[A case of postoperative pulmonary metastasis of colon cancer which responded to treatment with leucovorin and 5-FU].

A 72-year-old man underwent a radical operation for sigmoid colon cancer (well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, stage III) in 1989. Chest X-ray examination performed in September 1992 showed multiple nodular shadows in the lungs. A diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis was made from abnormally increased CEA and CA 19-9 and findings by chest tomography and CT scanning. There was no evidence of metastasis or recurrence in the liver, bone, brain or large intestine. He received three courses of bolus injections of leucovorin (30 mg/body) and 5-FU (500 mg/body), each over five consecutive days with a two-week rest period, and subsequently weekly at the same doses. CEA and CA 19-9 levels started to decrease after completion of the second course of consecutive treatment. In week 18 of chemotherapy, CEA and CA 19-9 levels dropped to 5.6 ng/ml and 32 U/ml from 66 ng/ml and 130 U/ml, respectively. Chest tomography and chest CT showed the disappearance or reduction in size of the nodules, with a reduction rate of 87.1%. Twenty-two weeks later, at this writing, there was no evidence of disease progression, and the patient was thus judged to be PR. He continues to receive chemotherapy at our outpatient clinic.